Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2015

As a model, think high-quality marketing collateral, with text and graphics in columns and sidebars, but focused on the value of your business, rather than selling your product. Skip the fuzzy marketing terms, such as "easier to use," "lower cost" and "disruptive technology."

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2021

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup has been $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

Sweat Equity 346

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Equity Venture Capital 346

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

That means they normally only invest in startups with a working product that has already been sold to at least one customer for full price (beta tests, giveaways and best friends don’t count). They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development. Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 228

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 228

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

An "elevator pitch" is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 283

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 283

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 24, 2011

billion jump in funding over the same quarter of 2010 with a similar number of deals, so it clearly shows a trend to larger deal sizes for fewer startups. To me, this indicates that venture capitalists (VCs) are looking for business, but not from first-time startups. Overall, investors put $7.5 That represents a $1.5

Venture Capital 233

Venture Capital Revenue Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley 233

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2020

That means they normally only invest in startups with a working product that has already been sold to at least one customer for full price (beta tests, giveaways and best friends don’t count). They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development. Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 336

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 336

Gust

JULY 23, 2014

So even if my own mother asked me to meet with you, and you were pitching me a biotech opportunity for a $10 million investment at a $90 million valuation, I might take the meeting, but it wouldn’t be particularly useful for either of us. In this case, it’s not a lack of interest, just a lack of time and efficiency.

Angel Investor 153

Angel Investor Elevator Pitch Pre-Money Valuation Technical Review 153

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 2, 2020

His challenge is to focus on one market, with a specific design, cost, and price. Bill was initially the idea person and technologist, while Steve had the business and marketing experience from Proctor & Gamble to close the business equation. For example, I have a friend with a Ph.D. Yes, there are a lot of bridges to cross.

Elevator Pitch 315

Elevator Pitch Cofounder Dividend Leadership 315

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 23, 2010

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded by an angel investor. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the angel perspective (as a member of an angel group selection committee). Prepare an investment-grade business plan.

Angel Investor 224

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Technical Review Elevator Pitch 224

Up and Running

APRIL 11, 2012

He defines the elevator pitch, video pitch, executive summary, PowerPoint presentation, and business plan as different forms. For more on this, you could find a lot of the same kind of thinking in my form follows function post on my Planning Startups Stories blog, part of a series on business planning fundamentals.

Business Plan 85

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Technical Review Due Diligence 85

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2018

I know what it’s like to pitch to investors—both angels and venture capitalists. I’ve raised close to $1 million from angel investors for my previous technology startups. Sometimes you only get 10 minutes to pitch your business opportunity to the investors (or less in some cases). Begin your pitch with a compelling story.

Hockey Stick 164

Hockey Stick Exit Strategy Technical Review Angel Investor 164

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 19, 2022

And if you’re not sure how to reach your goals, these B2B sales tips that we prepared will help you reach the revenue and success you’re hoping for. A good agency of this kind will know how to make adjustments that are data-driven regarding your sales and marketing efforts. Focus on OKRs. The post Struggling With B2B Sales?

B2B 142

B2B Sales Elevator Pitch Lead Generation 142

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Yet I find that few of today’s workers realize that succeeding as a freelancer requires a whole new focus on “marketing” yourself. As you know, things can change quickly, as businesses try to survive and adapt to an evolving market, so it’s better to be prepared than caught off guard. Walk away from a bad role or customer.

Employee 246

Employee Elevator Pitch Differentiation Social Media 246

OnlyOnce

JULY 9, 2013

Startup CEO (OnlyOnce – the book!), My book, Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business , is now available for pre-order on Amazon in multiple formats ( Print , Kindle ), which is an exciting milestone in this project! Part III – Pre-Order Now. questions”. Writing a book is a LOT harder than I expected!

Startup 95

Startup Advisory Board Elevator Pitch Forecast 95

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

Of course, the average beginning amount per startup is low, and usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment. Shy introverts may be great technologists, but they won’t be entrepreneurs until they learn to respectfully ask for funding, after nurturing relationships, and practicing their elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch 215

Elevator Pitch Equity Revenue Differentiation 215

Austin Startup

AUGUST 3, 2017

Is it an Texas-based tech startup company or is it doing something in the email space? For me, that’s any tech startup company in Texas or any email related company in the world. If your answers starts with, “We have multiple revenue streams…” that’s a bad thing. Is this a big enough market to support a venture funded business?

Technical Review 69

Technical Review Startup Texas Email 69

Gust

OCTOBER 11, 2011

An “ elevator pitch ” is a concise, well-practiced description of your startup and your plan, delivered with conviction and enthusiasm, that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Elevator Pitch 174

Elevator Pitch Startup Differentiation Distribution 174

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

Money seems to disappear at a startup once it hits the bank. Cash flow issues, the type where a company is bringing in plenty of revenue but is struggling to meet expenses can be really challenging for startups. Running a lean startup takes major budgeting skills. Market research. Identify success stories.

Elevator Pitch 242

Elevator Pitch Due Diligence Networking Venture Capital 242

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. Startups, are not about executing a plan where the product, customers, channel are known. – not just web-based startups.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2017

This is your elevator pitch hook, which you must be able to deliver in 30 seconds. The market scope for your solution should be quantified in non-technical terms, with data sourced from professionals in the industry, rather than your own opinion. Marketing, sales, and customer experience.

Elevator Pitch 163

Elevator Pitch Angel Investor Silicon Valley Revenue 163

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2015

A popular startup myth claims you don’t need one, since investors never read them. In my perspective as an advisor and mentor to many entrepreneurs, there are a set of basic strategies that can be applied to every startup to dramatically improve the odds of success, no matter what the business domain.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Burn Rate Startup Metrics 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2014

That means they normally only invest in startups with a working product that has already been sold to at least one customer for full price (beta tests, giveaways and best friends don’t count). They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development. Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 285

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 285

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2018

That means they normally only invest in startups with a working product that has already been sold to at least one customer for full price (beta tests, giveaways and best friends don’t count). They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development. Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 139

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 139

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2012

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors.

Elevator Pitch 247

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 247

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Be sure to include this in your “elevator pitch,” which you must always deliver as a prelude to your technology features. The most common business entity used for startups is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), which is the cheapest and simplest to manage. Quantify the market opportunity in business terms.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Capital Factory’s Saturday Startup Spotlight series continues this week with the CEO and Co-Founder of Zirtue : Dennis Cail. We got to chatting about the world of FinTech as well as the elusive credit market that hadn’t been formalized until Zirtue hit the scene. link] Can you introduce yourself & give us your elevator pitch?

Startup 77

Startup United States Elevator Pitch Cofounder 77

Up and Running

AUGUST 18, 2014

It can be hard to pitch your startup, but with a little practice, you’ll be able to naturally bring it up in social situations—without feeling pushy or rehearsed. But finding natural ways to pitch your startup may still seem like the most daunting task you’ve faced yet. Adapt your pitch to the platform.

Elevator Pitch 114

Elevator Pitch Private Placement Startup Conversion 114

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2017

Projected enrollment growth and market demand can also be tricky to estimate. This description should basically be an elevator pitch for potential partners and business investors to get excited about what you’re offering and your unique location, philosophy, and approach. Write about the market and how you’re fulfilling demand.

Business Plan 93

Business Plan SBA Software Review Advisory Board 93

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 9, 2012

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. Think of it as a selling effort, not an attempt to fully describe your startup. Market size and growth opportunity.

Business Plan 244

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Viral Lead Generation 244

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2016

As a startup advisor and investor, I find that more and more entrepreneurs avoid using the term “profit” in pitching their new venture. Every entrepreneur needs a good “elevator pitch” which succinctly describes the idea, the customer value proposition, and business profit. Show an aggressive marketing and sales plan.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2011

As a member of the local Angel group selection committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors.

Elevator Pitch 234

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 234

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2016

That means they normally only invest in startups with a working product that has already been sold to at least one customer for full price (beta tests, giveaways and best friends don’t count). They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development. Make your focus and priorities clear.

Elevator Pitch 120

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2015

Image via Flickr by Jupiter Labs Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. The average amount per startup was $23,000, usually in the form of a convertible loan, rather than an equity investment.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Equity 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 19, 2010

As a member of the local angel group Selection Committee, I’ve seen a lot of startup presentations to investors, and I’ve never seen one that was too short - maybe short on content, but not short on pages! Every startup needs both a business plan and an investor presentation, completed before you formally approach any investors.

Elevator Pitch 235

Elevator Pitch Exit Strategy Burn Rate Merger 235

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2012

Every new startup I know dreams of being funded early by one of the 318,000 active Angel investors in the USA alone. Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity to see how the process works, several times from the startup side, and more recently from the Angel perspective (as a member of an Angel group screening committee).

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch Angel Groups 260

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2020

This is where your elevator pitch needs to be embedded. Segment your potential market. One of my pet peeves is seeing an obnoxiously large hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars sized market identified for a company starting up with no further breakdown. Share a sentence or two of your go-to-market strategy.

Business Plan 124

Business Plan Elevator Pitch Equity Private Equity 124